According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual report, homelessness in America increased by 18 percent in 2024. In addition, family homelessness increased by 39 percent. Cleveland is still the second poorest large city in the country and has the highest child poverty rate. For The City Mission, statistics like these can be deflating after 115 years of battling one issue. But instead of dwelling on statistics, The Mission has made an extra effort to turn to other sectors to bring about exponential impact.
One of The City Mission’s five core values is, “We succeed by working together.” Although that rings true within The Mission, it also proves to be impactful across the nonprofit, corporate and government sectors. No one sector can solve the issue of homelessness — or any other issue, for that matter. Through collaboration, networking and shared expertise, organizations across these sectors can find camaraderie while more efficiently solving problems.
The City Mission’s collaboration with the city and county through the Office of Homeless Services and Mayor Justin Bibb’s office is a great example of the power of community partnerships in addressing homelessness. Through forums, meetings, tours and shared knowledge, The Mission has offered and received new and valuable insight and expertise in the broader conversation of homelessness solutions. These relationships have fostered a commitment to working collaboratively towards a shared goal.
In addition to working with the city and the county, The Mission has enjoyed working with several community partners ranging from those in the faith community to corporations and other nonprofits. One way The Mission has connected with these partners is by offering Bridges out of Poverty courses at no cost, empowering a wider network with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify and effectively address the root causes of homelessness.
With nearly 115 years of dedicated service, The City Mission possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be invaluable to other nonprofits, companies, health care systems and faith communities in their efforts to combat poverty and homelessness. However, this depth of knowledge is not unique to The Mission. Countless other organizations within Cleveland possess unique insights and successful approaches that can serve as valuable resources for others. By fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration, we can collectively identify innovative and impactful solutions tailored to the specific needs of our community.
Through this practice of collaboration, The Mission has not only provided knowledge about homelessness but has also worked with other organizations to provide things like meeting spaces, volunteer opportunities and other ways for people to become more involved in the community. Whether you are part of a nonprofit, government entity or business, working with those outside of your day-to-day operations can be refreshing and may even lead to some new ideas that apply to your specific work. No matter the goal, we succeed by working together.
Linda Uveges is CEO of The City Mission
